2. Our country faces serious challenges that demand serious leadership. However, in the past year, we have had a Government led by Humza Yousaf with no vision, no strategy and no plan. Those are not my words but those of many people in his own party and leading figures across the country. On the two biggest issues that our country faces, Audit Scotland has said that the First Minister’s Government has no vision for the national health service and lacks political leadership on the economy. In the midst of a housing crisis, Shelter Scotland has said that the First Minister has “no credibility”. As our country grapples with a climate crisis, the Climate Change Committee says that the Government has “no comprehensive strategy” and no credible plan. Does the First Minister agree with the verdict of the experts that this is a Government with no strategy, no vision and no plan?

I tend to believe in the verdict of the Scottish people, who, time and again, have trusted the Scottish National Party to be the Government of Scotland and have rejected Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour. Anas Sarwar, who is famed for his hubris, is already putting up the bunting and telling the people of Scotland that their votes have been taken for granted, whereas the Scottish Government and the party that I lead will never, ever take the people of Scotland for granted in any election.

I say to Anas Sarwar that, on some of the issues that he has mentioned—[

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer:

Let us hear the First Minister.

The First Minister:

Opposition members do not want to hear the record of this Government. Let me tell them about that record.

We have record investment of more than £19.5 billion in the national health service, and statistics this week show that we have record numbers of junior doctors joining the NHS. There are record levels of staffing in the NHS under this Government. We are making improvements to help our NHS through recovery. How? By investing in our NHS staff to the point where they are the best-paid staff anywhere in the UK—[

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer:

Let us hear the First Minister.

The First Minister:

What is markedly different in Scotland, compared to Conservative-run England or Labour-run Wales, is that, in Scotland, we have not lost a single day of NHS activity to strike action.

There are record levels of denial and bluster from the First Minister. There is no vision, no strategy and no plan—that is failing on the basics of Government.

That incompetence has consequences. In health, NHS waiting lists have gone up in the past year, with tens of thousands more people being added. On the economy, there has been a complete failure to deliver growth. Businesses are struggling and are cancelling investment. In justice, plans to let crimes go uninvestigated are being green-lighted and, across the country, police stations are closing. In education, standards are falling, violence is rising and teacher numbers are being cut. In housing, there is a cut of £190 million when, tonight, nearly 10,000 children will go to sleep without a home to call their own.

This is the First Minister’s record after just a year in the job. How can Scotland afford another two years of this?

The First Minister:

My record in the past year is that an estimated 100,000 children are being lifted out of poverty in Scotland. A record number of junior doctors are joining the NHS in Scotland and we have the best-paid NHS staff anywhere in the UK. My record is that not a single day of NHS activity has been lost to strike action, which is very different from Labour-run Wales, where, this week, junior doctors have once again been forced to go on strike.

On the key economic indicators under this Government, gross domestic product per head has increased in Scotland at a greater rate than in the UK. Productivity has increased at a greater rate per head in comparison with the rest of the UK. Just last month, statistics showed that we have greater private sector employment growth than there is in any other nation or region of the UK.

What is Anas Sarwar’s record? The only consistency over the past year is that he is completely inconsistent. He has U-turned, dumped every single principle or policy and fallen into line behind Keir Starmer.

Even SNP members are feeling sorry for the First Minister.

Members:

Oh!

The Presiding Officer:

Let us hear Mr Sarwar.

He does not seem to want to listen to me or to experts or business leaders across Scotland, but maybe he will listen to his own side. In just a year of his leadership, there have been three defections, nine SNP members of Parliament have abandoned ship, and his own deputy leader has said that SNP MPs might not turn up to work. He has been called authoritarian by one of his longest-serving MSPs, has been accused of lacking vision by Kate Forbes, and has been called

“a commentator ... and not a leader” by Alex Neil, while his General Election strategy has been trashed by Pete Wishart, his party’s longest-serving MP. In one short year, Humza Yousaf has lost every electoral test that he has been set. Is he worried that the people of Scotland, like many people sitting behind him, believe that Alex Neil is right and that the strategy is “mince”?

The First Minister:

T here is another display of Anas Sarwar’s famed arrogance and hubris in the chamber, taking the people of Scotland for granted. He talks about vision—[

Interruption

.]—but he is getting support from the Conservatives, which tells you everything you need to know—[

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer:

First Minister, if you might sit.

Colleagues, let us ensure that we can hear one another.

The First Minister:

When it comes to vision, let me remind Anas Sarwar that it was just last week that his colleagues in UK Labour were praising Margaret Thatcher for her vision. I can stand here and say that, in the year that I have been First Minister, I have stood by my values and my principles.

Those values and principles will see an estimated 100,000 children lifted out of poverty. Those values will see record investment in our NHS and record numbers of junior doctors joining it. They have seen the implementation of a fully funded council tax freeze, despite Labour’s best efforts to thwart it. Those values have seen private sector employment grow in Scotland more than in any other UK nation.

As I have said, the only consistency that Anas Sarwar has is his inconsistency—his U-turning and dumping of policies, from the two-child limit to the lifting of the cap on bankers’ bonuses. Most shamefully, there is the latest betrayal of Women Against State Pension Inequality—WASPI. Anas Sarwar promised to campaign for the WASPI women, but he has now turned his back on them. That is unforgivable. The WASPI women will not forget and they will not forgive.